WFN Members' Statement of Solidarity and Call for Liberation from State Violence

Women's Funding Network and the Women's Foundation of Minnesota issued a joint statement of solidarity following the news that a jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd. We invite WFN members to join us in standing in solidarity with the Black community and calling for philanthropy to support community-led groups that demand liberation from state violence for all.  

Today’s verdict may bring relief, but it does not bring justice. It does not bring back a father, a son, a man - George Floyd. The only justice is a whole life, liberated from the systems in Minnesota, the U.S., and around the world, that empower police to mistreat, abuse, and murder Black, Indigenous, immigrants, and people of color.
 
As we press forward, we recognize that in a culture that continually reinforces white supremacy, justice can only be achieved when we confront and repair the anti-Blackness that is woven through every aspect of society—in our homes, schools, workplaces, communities, places of worship, and government.  
 
Philanthropy must trust those most impacted to lead the way. As we listen to communities most impacted, we must trust them when they share their truth. We recognize their leadership and vision and use our resources to invest in their solutions for whole-community safety and well-being. We must show up for one another and work in partnership, believing and building power with those who experience violence and harm at the hands of our systems. Their vision and experiences have shown us the way, and the work is on all of us to create change and to realize a new day for Minnesota.  
 
As women’s funds, gender equity funders and allies, our vision of gender equity is indelibly bound to racial equity. The women’s movement can only be realized when we center the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and women of color who experience state-sanctioned violence directly. There can be no gender justice without racial justice. 
 
Since the onset of the pandemic and the global uprising for racial justice that began in Minnesota after the murder of George Floyd, we talked to Black mothers and caregivers, Native women, and women of color through our Listening Sessions. The community shared their experience of two Minnesotas — two systems of justice, policing, education, housing, and healthcare, of safety, dignity, life, and death. The injustices they face in our state are matters of life and death.  
 
To transform, we cannot stop listening, learning, and amplifying the voices of communities pushed to the margins. We must transform our attitudes, our systems, our practices, and our institutions. We can and must rise to meet this moment. This is our rallying cry to continue the fight for justice and equity. 

In this moment, with this verdict, we have courage. We must keep this courage in the face of all that lies ahead – and we need your courage to join us in powering a movement for change so that all women, girls, their families, and communities may thrive. 
 
With courage for our way forward, 

Gloria Perez, President & CEO, Women’s Foundation of Minnesota

Elizabeth Barajas-Román, President & CEO, Women’s Funding Network

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In Solidarity, Signed: 
Jane Sloane, Senior Director, Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality  
Teresa C. Younger, President and CEO, Ms. Foundation for Women  
Tine Ward, Founder and CEO, Rockflower Partners Inc.  
Marya Meyer, Interim Executive Director, Women’s Fund Miami 
Meg Smith, Director, Vermont Women's Fund 
Nicole Baran, Executive Director, The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation 
Joanne Murray, Executive Director, Women’s Fund SouthCoast, Massachusetts  
Trish Tierney, Co-founder + CEO, WAKE 
Dr. Amalia Luxardo, CEO, Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona 
Lauren Casteel, President & CEO, The Women’s Foundation of Colorado  
Felicia Davis, President & CEO, Chicago Foundation for Women 
Brandy Loveland, WEMH Achievement Coach, WNY Women's Foundation 
Karen Sterk, CEO, Jeannette Rankin Foundation 
Leela Bilmes Goldstein, Executive Director, Women's Fund of Hawai‘i 
Roslyn Dawson Thompson, President & CEO, Texas Women’s Foundation 
Melanie R. Brown, Vice-Chair, Women's Funding Network Board of Directors 
Elba Montalvo, Co-Founder, Puerto Rican Women’s Foundation 
Adriana Loson-Ceballos, Women's Funding Network Board of Directors 
Julia L. Gray, Mediator & Attorney at Law; Board President, Women's Foundation of Greater St. Louis 
Keri Koehler, Executive Director, Women's Foundation of Greater St. Louis 
Jessica Neuwirth, Donor Direct Action 
Emily Weltman, Collective Flow Consulting 
Tanna Clews, CEO, New Hampshire Women’s Foundation  
Kate Kroeger, Urgent Action Fund 
Junemarie Justus, Founder, The Acorn Project, Women's Funding Network Board of Directors 
Julienne Lusenge, Executive Director, Fund for Congolese Women 
Sarah Vaill, Director of Philanthropy, The XX Fund at Liberty Hill Foundation 
Natanja Oquendo, Executive Director, Boston Women’s Foundation  
Donna kHaghighat, CEO, Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts  
Jess Tomlin, Co-CEO, Equality Fund 
Amina Dickerson, Dickerson Global Advisors 
Erika Burnett, Executive Director, Women's Fund of Greater Chattanooga 
Jennifer Steadman, Executive Director, Aurora Women and Girls Foundation 
Kelly Nevins, CEO, Women’s Fund of Rhode Island 
Julie Keller, Executive Director, Women's Fund for the Fox Valley Region 
Sharon LaRue, Executive Director, Kentucky Foundation for Women 
Sheri Scavone, WNY Women's Foundation 
Michelle Legaspi Sanchez, The Fund for Women and Girls 
Kelley Griesmer, President and CEO, The Women's Fund of Central Ohio 
Kimberly Crichton, Executive Director, Maine Women's Fund 
Lori Adelman, Global Fund for Women 
Shante Avant, Vice President, Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis  
Tracy DeVries, Executive Director, Women’s Foundation of Mississippi  
Maria Cavalcanti, President and CEO, Pro Mujer, Inc.  
Louise Davis, PRBB Foundation 
Meghan Cummins, Executive Director, Women’s Fund for the Greater Cincinnati Foundation 
Erin McArthur, Women's Fund of Omaha 
Sarah Ghiorse, Executive Director, NewMexicoWomen.Org 
Korey Pimental, Office Manager, NewMexicoWomen.Org 
Gina Montoya, Operations Manager, NewMexicoWomen.Org 
Alison Gerardot, Vice President of Philanthropic Services, Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne 
Zsófia Sztranyiczki, Executive Director, International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women (IWC) 
Paulette Senior, President & Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Women’s Foundation 
Kim Holt Cochran, Vice President, External Affairs, The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham 
Dawn Oliver Wiand, President/CEO, Iowa Women’s Foundation 
Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat, President & CEO, Washington Area Women’s Foundation 
Stacey Keare, Girls Rights Project  
Theary    Chan, Director of Partnerships, Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights 
Shalini Eddens, Deputy Executive Director, Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights 
Molly Schultz Hafid, Executive Director, Butler Family Fund 
Aliyya Shelley Mattos, Executive Director, PaperSeed Foundation 
Beth Bengtson, Working for Women
Lisa Attonito, Women's Fund of Greater Milwaukee 
Denise Raquel Dunning, Founder & Executive Director, Rise Up

Sign Solidarity Statement Here

Additional Resources

Funders For Justice

Black Futures Lab 

Women's Foundation of Minnesota
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